Bussell said he pulled into the driveway, got out and watched as the dogs moved closer to Siemsen, who was sitting in a chair.

When Siemsen tried to break up the fight by hitting the pit bull with his cane, the dog turned on him and began mauling his leg.

“I was getting ready to pull my off-duty weapon out and shoot the dog,” Bussell testified.

Just at that moment, Flores punched his dog, grabbed its collar and pulled it away.

Siemsen was left with a large gash on his leg.

The elderly man did not testify in person. Instead, his comments were recorded last week and submitted to the judge.

Flores was arrested after deputies arrived and determined his dog had a history of aggressive behavior and attacking other animals.

Justin Foster, a county animal control officer, testified the pit bull received the potentially dangerous animal designation Nov. 3 after complaints of other attacks on dogs.

Medvigy denied a request from Flores' lawyer, Karen Silver, to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, who argued he was trying to control the dog when it broke free.

Prosecutor Robin Hammond said it was clear Flores was not engaging in ordinary care of a dog with an aggressive past. The breed, she argued, tends to be “dangerous and violent.”

“I think it's common knowledge,” Hammond said.

Meanwhile, Siemsen feels some comfort in the fact the dog that attacked him was euthanized. But as he sat in his favorite patio chair Monday, he could hear from the barking across the fence that his neighbor had already found a replacement.“They've got a new pit bull puppy,” said his caretaker, Anne Williams.